South African Pres. Jacob Zuma, in his state of the nation address in early February, declared 2011 a year of job creation through meaningful economic transformation and incisive growth. A total of 9 billion rand (1 rand = about $0.15) would be spent over the following three years in subsidies to industry for job creation; 20 billion rand in tax breaks would be given for the same purpose.

In February, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela declared that a controversial 500 million rand police headquarters property deal was illegal and found that police commissioner Bheki Cele’s involvement was “improper, unlawful and amounted to maladministration.” Shortly after her statement, two crime intelligence police officers raided her office in an improper search for papers associated with the matter. Cele dissociated himself from the raid. In July, amid allegations that she was corrupt and with death threats allegedly having been made against her, Madonsela also criticized the equally controversial 1.1 billion rand police lease deal in Durban and stated that the minister of public works, Gwen Mahlangu Nkabinde, was guilty of improper conduct in allowing the two deals to go ahead. In October, President Zuma dismissed Nkabinde from his cabinet, suspended Cele, and appointed a commission of inquiry to investigate Cele’s dealings. At the same time, Zuma announced the names of three judges who would conduct an inquiry into the controversial 1990s arms deal.

Also in February, the Solidarity trade union called attention to a statement that government spokesperson Jimmy Manyi had made a year earlier when he was serving as director-general of the national Department of Labour. He stated that Coloureds (persons of mixed European and African or Asian ancestry, as classified under apartheid) were “overconcentrated” in the Western Cape province and should spread out around the country. Trevor Manuel, minister of planning in the president’s office, called Manyi a racist, and various other senior African National Congress (ANC) members weighed in on one side or the other. The organization as a whole issued a condemnation of Manyi’s comments, and he later apologized for his remarks. The renewed attention on Manyi’s statement occurred in the context of a pending amendment to the Employment Equity Act, which some thought would require that national, rather than provincial, demographic standards be used in determining employment equity targets. It was feared that the proposed change would threaten job opportunities in the Western Cape province for Coloured workers and in KwaZulu-Natal province for Indian workers, as both groups made up a much higher percentage of the population in those provinces than they did nationally. The government disputed this interpretation of the amendment.

Local elections were held on May 18. The ANC maintained its dominance, winning 63.65% of the votes. The Democratic Alliance (DA), however, was able to increase its percentage of the vote from 14.8% in 2006 to 21.97% in 2011 and won the most votes in Western Cape province. Support for the ANC fell in every province, except for KwaZulu-Natal, where its percentage of votes rose at the expense of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). Nationally, the IFP came in third, with a percentage vote of 3.94%, down from 8.1% in 2006.

President Zuma was criticized for elevating an inexperienced and controversial judge when in September he appointed Mogoeng Mogoeng to the position of chief justice of the Constitutional Court. Zuma had previously attempted to extend the appointment of the sitting chief justice, an action that was ruled unconstitutional.

In August the ANC Youth League’s president, Julius Malema, was charged for the second time by the ANC for bringing the organization into disrepute. He was also charged with sowing intolerance and provoking divisions within the ANC. A disciplinary hearing was held, and in November Malema, along with other youth leaders, was suspended from the ANCYL. He appealed the decision. There were also new revelations during the year about Malema’s alleged financial kickbacks from those who secured tenders with the government in Limpopo province.

The ANC Youth League was also in the news when it called for nationalization of the mines, banks, and other big companies at its national congress in June. The call was supported by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), which was part of the Tripartite Alliance with the ANC and the South African Communist Party. Spokespersons for the ANC, however, insisted that nationalization was not the policy of government.

The debate continued on a controversial protection of information bill that had been introduced to Parliament in 2010. Opposition parties, civil society organs, and even some senior ANC members said that the bill threatened freedom of speech. It was, however, passed by the National Assembly in November and was due to be considered by the other chamber of Parliament, the National Council of Provinces, in 2012.

A record number of working days (more than 27 million) were lost as a result of strikes that broke out in midyear. Striking employees included those in the metal, mine, food, petroleum, engineering, packaging, catering, and municipal industries.

Concern for the well-being of former president and international icon Nelson Mandela was foremost in the minds of many at the end of January after he was hospitalized with respiratory problems. He was released a few days later.

Economy

The economy grew by 2.8% in 2010 and by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. In the first quarter of 2011, growth stood at 4.5%, but it slowed to 1.3% in the second quarter and was 1.4% in the third quarter. At the end of June, the governor of the Reserve Bank commented on the “fragility” of economic recovery, noting the contraction in the manufacturing sector in April 2011 and the continued slow pace of growth in the construction sector and in private-sector fixed capital formation.

Job creation was the central focus of the 2011 budget, with 100 billion rand direct spending on plans for employment and skills training. A youth job subsidy would be launched in April 2012, to be reviewed in three years. This was opposed by COSATU. There was tax relief of 8.1 billion rand. The 2011–12 budget deficit was projected at 5.3%.

Despite economic growth, the unemployment rate increased to 25.7% in the second quarter of 2011. It did decline slightly to 25% in the third quarter but was still higher than the 24% unemployment rate of the fourth quarter of the previous year.

In January inflation was up slightly (3.7%) from December 2010 (3.5%), but by November it had increased to 6.1%. There was no change in the bank repurchase rate during the year.

Foreign Affairs

The South African government was accused of bending to the will of China when it failed to issue a visa for the Dalai Lama to visit South Africa in October. It was also alleged to have lent support to Muammar al-Qaddafi in Libya and the government of Syria, despite uprisings against their rule. While the United Nations and the African Union declared Alassane Ouattara the victor in the 2010 Côte d’Ivoire election, the South African government for a while appeared to be pushing for compromise between Ouattara and the former president, Laurent Gbagbo. On the occasion of the independence of South Sudan, President Zuma praised former president Thabo Mbeki for his role in ending the Sudanese conflict. In August the government committed 8 million rand for famine relief in Somalia.

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